Magnetic field effect on the anodic behaviour of a ferromagnetic electrode in acidic solutions

The magnetization of a ferromagnetic electrode in an external homogeneous magnetic field leads to a stray field in front of the electrode. This stray and its gradients can alter the anodic behaviour of the electrode significantly. Potentiodynamic polarisation measurements of an iron wire in a 0.5 M sulfuric acid solution (pH 0.25) and in a 0.5 M phthalate buffer solution (pH 5) without and with applied magnetic fields up to 0.6 T in different orientations to the electrode surface were performed. In sulfuric acid solution an increase of the diffusion-limited dissolution current density and a shift of the active–passive transition potential to more noble potentials was observed when the magnetic field was applied parallel to the electrode surface. In contrast, in perpendicular field configuration the diffusion-limited current density is lowered and the active–passive transition potential is shifted to less noble values. In phthalate buffer no significant influence of the magnetic field on the current density was observed in the active region, but a shift of the active–passive transition to less noble potentials occurred irrespective of the magnetic field configuration.The observed effects of a superimposed magnetic field on the anodic behaviour of iron are discussed with respect to an increase of the mass transport due to the Lorentz-force-driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect, the magnetic field gradient force and its interaction with the paramagnetic iron ions. The results of this paper show that the effect of the field gradient force can become very important due to the high magnetic field gradient at ferromagnetic electrodes.